.png)
.png)
Email this article 
Parentheses of uncertaininty as a tool of manipulation in the news
https://doi.org/10.28995/2686-7249-2025-3-118-128
Abstract
The paper analyzes the linguistic markers and mechanisms of semantic processing of statements with epistemic parentheses: veroyatno ‘probably’, vidimo ‘apparently’, vozmozhno ‘possibly’, kazhetsya ‘it seems like’, navernoe ‘probably’, pochozhe ‘it looks like’, mozhet ‘maybe’, mozhet byt’ ‘maybe’. Generally, these items express the addressee’s uncertainty in the statement’s truth, but also they serve to form the tropes: litotes, mimesis, antiphrasis, and irony. Such an expansion of semantic functions allows to use parentheses in media to influence the addressee. An analysis of the semantics of unverifiable judgments in a corpus of news texts shows that parentheses of uncertainty accompanying a subjective opinion often indicate implicit meanings with a negative assessment of a character or events and mark non-proprietary speech. Thus, the study of the mechanisms of text comprehension proves that parentheses are one of the tools of manipulative speech influence.
About the Authors
S. I. PereverzevaRussian Federation
Svetlana I. Pereverzeva - Cand. of Sci. (Philology), Russian State University for the Humanities.
6, Miusskaya Sq., Moscow, 125047
A. A. Kotov
Russian Federation
Artemii A. Kotov - Cand. of Sci. (Philology), Russian State University for the Humanities; Kurchatov Institute; Moscow State Linguistic University
6, Miusskaya Sq., Moscow, 125047; 1, Akademic Kurchatov Sq., Moscow, 123182; bldg. 1, bld. 38, Ostozhenka St., Moscow, 119034
References
1. Brown, P. and Levinson, C.S. (1987), Politeness. Some universals in language use, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
2. Grice, H.P. (1985), “Logic and conversation”, in Novoe v zarubezhnoi lingvistike, vyp. 16, Lingvisticheskaya pragmatika [New in foreign linguistics, iss. 16, Linguistic pragmatics], Progress, Moscow, USSR, pp. 217–237.
3. Kiseleva, K. and Paiar, D. (2003), “Mechanisms of semantic variation. The case of a group with the root -vid-: vidomo, po-vidimomu, vidno”, in Diskursivnye slova russkogo yazyka: kontekstnoe var’irovanie i semanticheskoe edinstvo [Discursive words of the Russian language. Contextual variation and semantic unity], Azbukovnik, Moscow, Russia, pp. 50–79.
4. Kotov, A., Arinkin, N., Filatov, A., Zaidelman, L. and Zinina, A. (2018), “Semantic comprehension system for F-2 emotional robot”, in Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol. 636, pp. 126–132.
5. Kotov, A.A. and Pereverzeva, S.I. (2024), “Automatic frame analysis for the evaluation of text influence”, Science Journal of Volgograd State University. Linguistics, vol. 23, no. 3, pp. 41–54.
6. Kotov, A.A. (2021), Mekhanizmy rechevogo vozdeistviya [Mechanisms of speech impact], RGGU, Moscow, Russia.
7. Pereverzeva, S.I. (2024), “Questions with parentheses expressing uncertainty in the Telegram media channels. An instrument of manipulation”, RSUH/RGGU Bulletin. “Literary Theory. Linguistics. Cultural Studies” Series, no. 12, pp. 93–103.
8. Pereverzeva, S.I. (2024), “Veroyatno, chtoby vs vozmozhno, potomu chto. Two cognitive speech strategies of the news writers”, in Desyataya mezhdunarodnaya konferentsiya po kognitivnoi nauke: Tezisy dokladov. Pyatigorsk, 26–30 iyunya 2024 g. [Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Cognitive Science, Pyatigorsk, 26–30 June 2024], part 2, PGU, Pyatigorsk, Russia, pp. 316–317.
9. Pereverzeva, S.I., Kotov, A.A., Zherebtsova, Ya.A. and Zinina, A.A. (2023), “Parentheses expressing (un)certainty in the Telegram media channels. Word frequency”, RSUH/RGGU Bulletin. “Literary Theory. Linguistics. Cultural Studies” Series, no. 5, pp. 153–185.
10. Povarnin, S.I. (1990), “Dispute. On the theory and practice of dispute”, Voprosy filosofii, no. 3, pp. 57–133.
11. Razlogova, E.E. (1998), “Probably, or I believe, despite...”, in Kiseleva, K. and Paiar, D., eds., Diskursivnye slova russkogo yazyka: opyt kontekstno-semanticheskogo opisaniya [Discursive words of the Russian language. An experience of contextual-semantic description], Metatekst, Moscow, Russia, pp. 309–316.
12. Razlogova, E.E. (2005), “Stylistic figures in utterances with modal words”, Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta. Seriya 9: Filologiya, no. 6, pp. 123–138.
13. Zaliznyak, A.A. (1991), “Schitat’ i dumat’ (Counting and thinking). Two types of opinion”, in Logicheskii analiz yazyka. Kul’turnye kontsepty [Logical analysis of language. Cultural concepts], Nauka, Moscow, Russia, pp. 187–194.
Supplementary files
For citation: Pereverzeva S.I., Kotov A.A. Parentheses of uncertaininty as a tool of manipulation in the news. RSUH/RGGU Bulletin: “Literary Teory. Linguistics. Cultural Studies”, Series. 2025;(3):118-128. https://doi.org/10.28995/2686-7249-2025-3-118-128
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
